The most exciting thing about Bucktown Soup Cafe is the innovative variety of soups on offer – alongside the standards like Chicken Noodle, Lobster Bisque and Chili; they offer things like Cheeseburger Chowder, or Mushroom and Brie. The offerings rotate through a list of over 90 soups, with an emphasis on fresh vegetables. As the owner, Dino, explained to me – “People ask me for Split Pea and Ham soup. I love Split Pea and Ham, and we’ve got a great recipe for it, but don’t expect to see it here until peas are in season.” That commitment to quality produce is clearly in evidence in the soups themselves. I sampled most of the day’s offerings, and was blown away by how much the taste of the various ingredients stood out. The Mushroom and Brie was intensely, fantastically mushroom-y, with a wonderful earthy flavor that was beautifully complimented by the silky brie texture. The chef, Marcus, calls it a “wow” soup, and indeed, as soon as I had tried it, the first word out of my mouth was “Wow”. The Baja Chicken Enchilada and Gumbolaya (a gumbo-jambalaya hybrid) were wonderful, hearty, fire-in-the-belly soups with a delicious combination of chicken and vegetables and a great kick of spice. The Cheeseburger Chowder tasted just like a cheeseburger in soup form – though it might seem like a strange concept, the end product is quite tasty, and not nearly as heavy as you might expect. The greatest testament to the soups might be the fact that after trying so many, I ultimately settled on a bowl of Harvest Grain – one of their vegan offerings. This was totally out of character for me, as I’m quite the meat-eater, but I was blown away by the wonderfully nuanced and flavorful combination of vegetables and grains – hearty and filling and absolutely delicious. Dino told me that one of the main adaptations he makes to recipes he finds is to fire-roast the vegetables so as to bring out their flavors – and it’s definitely working.
            

The soups come in 12, 16, or 24 ounce bowls, ranging in price from around $4 to $8, depending on your choice. Each is served with a multigrain roll. They offer take-out, but it’s a very pleasant place to sit and have lunch. Works by local artists decks the walls, and the entire front is glass, affording a nice opportunity to people-watch. Given its location, on Damen just past the expressway, there are plenty of people to be seen. I particularly enjoyed, too, the single rose in a small Perrier bottle on each table – a subtle elegant touch. With the cold, dark weather we’ve been having lately, what better way to treat yourself than with a bowl of soup